Eve Muirhead kept her hopes of a second Olympic medal alive after steering Great Britain’s women’s curling team to an emphatic 10-4 win over Japan at the National Aquatics Centre.

Muirhead went into the game knowing victory was vital to maintaining their semi-final ambitions after a frustrating defeat to Canada on Monday left them adrift of the top four.

But once again her team showed resilience in adversity to force a Japanese concession with two ends remaining, and set them up nicely for another crucial showdown on Wednesday with hosts China.

“We knew that was a very important match for us today and we came out with a lot of fire,” said Muirhead, who won bronze in Sochi in 2014. “We had a great chat after the loss to China and we knew the importance of bouncing back.”

Muirhead’s side got off to a dream start with a three in the first end, and another triple in the third end effectively finished the match as a contest before the halfway stage.

“I think what we did very well was we didn’t get complacent,” added Muirhead. “We kept control of every end and every stone, and saw the game out.

“I think our last two games are going to be tough. It’s always a lot harder when you’ve got the home crowd against you. But we’re enjoying every minute of it and working very hard as a team.”